Manchester United 3-2 Newcastle United: 5 Talking Points & Tactical Analysis| Premier League 2018-19

Manchester United defeated Rafael Benitez's Newcastle United by a margin of 3-2 amidst much drama surrounding the whole game. United came back from two-nil down to score three goals in the last 25 minutes in an immense display of confidence and vigor.

Earlier, Newcastle had taken a two-goal lead in the first ten minutes through goals from Kenedy and Yoshinori Muto. Later, goals from Juan Mata, Anthony Martial and Alexis Sanchez meant that United won three points in the most remarkable fashion that one could have imagined of.

Here are the five major talking points and tactical analysis from the match:

#5 Manchester United concede early yet again

After a rather promising first few minutes when they circulated the possession, Newcastle United found their way back into the game and how. Kenedy who was earlier causing problems for Ashley Young managed to sneak past the Englishman and ran in behind the entire backline to score a sumptuous goal.

The celebration was exuberant as Newcastle gained an early control over the game. The most absurd fact regarding this goal was that the attacking move started through a throw-in!

Nemanja Matic failed to intercept the incoming pass and Ayoze Perez slid in a lovely pass for Kenedy whose finishing was supreme. The second goal was initiated by a long cross from the flank which was well controlled by Yoshinori Muto.

The striker then wriggled past Young yet again and scored through a deft finish. Accordingly, United went two nil down through two shambolic individual mistakes in the first ten minutes.

Oh. My. Word.

Newcastle generally keep a compact defensive structure with two banks of four players behind the ball usually. Hence, it would become even more difficult for United to breach their backline and score three past them.

#4 Mourinho makes early substitution and tactical tweaks

Bailly was called off in the 19th minute

United’s backline was in shambles after the two goals. Young had allowed the Kenedy and Muto to run past him and the central defenders weren’t up to the task either. Chris Smalling and Eric Bailly couldn’t close down the two goal-scorers either and they were majorly culpable for the initial damage caused.

Hence, it became apparent that Mourinho became proactive on the touchline and made a quick substitution by hauling off Bailly for Juan Mata in the 19th minute. By taking off a central defender this early into the game, it was clear that United was going to push for a victory.

Moreover, Mata’s inclusion made sense as the Spaniard operated as the primary creative outlet by running into pockets of spaces and playing some quick football.

He distributed the ball to the flanks, passed it ahead incisively and played in tandem at times with Luke Shaw who used to be on the run from the left wing.

To break Newcastle’s defensive setup, it was necessary to have someone like Mata who would play simple passes on the move and get in between the midfield and defensive lines. Bailly was replaced by Scott McTominay at the right-sided centre-back position.

Though McTominay was looking increasingly incompetent at that position, he managed to see of the first half. His performance after dropping deeper on the pitch was quite unimpressive though.

Accordingly, Mourinho made some quick tactical tweaks to churn out a reaction from his players.

Paul Pogba was given a free role as Matic stayed behind to negate Newcastle’s counter-attacks. With every passing minute, United looked to assert their authority over the proceedings.

#3 Some more changes at the halftime

Fellaini created some unrest in the opposition's box

Despite being down by two goals, United were looking threatening in the first half too. They were making some right moves, but a major portion of the half was a bit disjointed as such. Marcus Rashford missed a sitter and Anthony Martial’s poor touch meant that they missed two glorious opportunities to cut down the opposition’s lead in the first half itself.

After the halftime whistle, Mourinho was looking animated as he ran off to the tunnel and asked his coaching staff to join in quickly. It became evident that he was keen to turn things around.

Moreover, the players were sent out on the pitch two minutes earlier as Marouane Fellaini came in for McTominay. Fellaini’s arrival usually means that United would hoof the ball up to him and it becomes a predictable approach while chasing games.

However, Fellaini donned various roles and one of them was to keep the opposition’s centre-halves engaged so that Lukaku drifts wider and accordingly the whole frontline became more fluid.

United was playing with a newfound aggression, dominance and grit in the second half. Mourinho instructed them to commit bodies ahead with only Smalling remaining as the recognized centre-half.

Also, the fullbacks took advanced positions and the main objective was to put the ball inside the box. Anthony Martial played with a renewed swagger as he tamed the defenders and dribbled his way inside the box.

He was direct, creative and capable of playing one-touch on the move. Pogba started off as a centre-back, but as United moved ahead, he committed forward and accordingly operated as a floater eventually. He was doing his defensive work diligently but United’s assertiveness meant that the Frenchman often found him at the edge of the box.

Martial was given the freedom to play across the box, often shifting to the center to look for spaces and run at it. So, with just one central defender, United started their venture of bagging three goals to notch three points at home.

#2 Goals Galore!

Manchester United was very threatening on the attacking front in the second half. With just one centre-back, their motive was to get bodies inside the box and make Newcastle succumb to the intense waves of pressure.

As mentioned in the previous slider, Martial roamed around the attacking line to spot pockets of space and run at them.

On one such occasion, he directly dribbled into the box from the right side and was fouled by Mohamed Diame outside the penalty box.

It was a good position to take the free-kick from and Juan Mata along with Sanchez stood over the ball. By the looks of it, there was an apparent feeling that this could be the decisive moment in the game.

Sanchez ran over the ball as Juan Mata struck a beauty of a kick at the bottom right corner. Mata’s free kicks from the right end are usually sumptuous and this one was no less.

The Spaniard’s timing on the ball and the perfection with which he placed it at the exactly required position provided no chance to Martin Dubravka who was having a pretty good game by then.

The intensity and pressure kept growing and Anthony Martial collected the ball and passed it to Paul Pogba was ran inside the box.

More importantly, Pogba’s flick to Martial was perfectly timed and the younger Frenchman calmly slotted the ball into the bottom right corner.

Within five minutes, United had drawn level against the Magpies but the best was yet to come

#1 Sanchez drills the final nail in the coffin; what does this mean for Manchester United?

There was an incessant swagger about how United went around with their work after the equalizer. Mourinho was extremely proactive from the touchline and let his emotions take over the steely face attitude that he usually dons.

Alexis Sanchez was on the pitch for the last 25 minutes and as many commentators repeated at that time; “There wouldn’t be a better time for Sanchez to revive his career at Manchester United.”

The Chilean was making the required passes and was hovering near the penalty box. He recovered the ball on some occasions and teed up well with Martial on the left flank.

Martial’s direct approach on the ball meant that United were deadly on the counter-attack and Newcastle’s backline looked increasingly worn out with the constant pressure exerted by United’s players. They flooded the box with crosses from the right wing.

Whereas, Shaw, Pogba and Martial combined at the edge of the touchline on the left flank and moved it ahead with precision and purpose. Ashley Young crossed the ball 16 times but the most important one was the one in the 90th minute.

As Lukaku and Pogba played a one-two, the Frenchman passed it simply to the overlapping Young. The Englishman crossed it almost instantly and Alexis Sanchez, apparently, the shortest man inside the box jumped the highest to precisely put the head behind the net.

There was a sign of relief, satisfaction and content in Sanchez’s face after the goal. Wearing the No. 7 jersey, he hadn’t done much at Old Trafford for the fans to witness his true class and determination over the past nine months.

This was his moment and he capitalized on it with perfection. This game most importantly held importance for Jose Mourinho too. Report from the Daily Mail stated that Mourinho would be sacked after this game irrespective of the result.

The Portuguese himself accepted that if he hadn’t received a text message from the board, he would have believed that report too. However, on the touchline, he just proved yet again why the man is worthy enough to lead out Manchester United out of their current crisis.

His substitutions, man-management and tactical tweaks were excellent throughout the course of the game. The decision to haul off Bailly instead of McTominay in the 19th minute to save the Scottish lad from the embarrassment was a very mature one.

Moreover, he allowed Pogba to play as the floater, asking him to build from the back and later run inside the box to create goal-scoring opportunities. Juan Mata and Alexis Sanchez delivered the required impacts after coming off the bench too.

Overall, Mourinho proved yet again that the players would be there to fight for him until the end. His tactical game was on spot in the match, but currently, the major task would be to deliver such performances consistently.

For now, the team would head into the international break with a refreshingly positive mindset.

Edited by Alan John